Canadian hockey icon Don Cherry is sorry the Russians have been eliminated from the Sochi Games -- but only because he wanted Canada to turf them from the tournament.

During the first intermission of Wednesday's Canada-Latvia quarterfinal, Cherry said during his Coach's Corner broadcast that the Russian coaches erred in their goaltending choice for their showdown with Finland.

"I feel they made a big mistake here -- they took out (Sergei) Bobrovsky," Cherry said of the NHL's reigning top goalie, who plays for the Columbus Blue Jackets.

Bobrovsky was very strong in the tournament, but teammate Semyon Varlamov of the Colorado Avalanche was tapped to start the Finnish game that ended in a 3-1 defeat.

Varlamov allowed all three goals, on 12 shots, before being pulled in the second and replaced with Bobrovsky.

Airing a close-up clip of Varlamov shooting a sideways glare to his bench after one Finnish goal, Cherry said: "Varlamov didn't want to win this game."

The glare, he added, is proof "he wants out of the net."

Cherry's segment aired with Canada tied 1-1 with Latvia. He said little about the Canadian players but praised Latvia's Canadian-bred coach, Ted Nolan.

"Teddy Nolan is as happy as a pig in mud" to escape that period with a tie, he said.